Words Matter

Ethical Fundraising

Transparency inspires confidence. Beyond what the law requires, nonprofits can demonstrate their commitment to ethical practices by being entirely transparent with financial information and fundraising practices.

Communications must be accurate and honest.

Honesty in communications includes providing attributions for images and photographs/video. Only use images of people with prior permission, and never include information with images of minors that could be considered personal identifying information.

A fundamental financial transparency practice is to make it easy for visitors to a nonprofit’s website to find information about the nonprofit's budget-size and its sources of revenue, as well as information about board composition, programs, outcomes/impact, staffing, and donors (protecting the identity of those who wish to remain anonymous).

There are certain documents that tax-exempt nonprofits MUST make available to the public. (Learn about the public disclosure requirement.) Among them is a notice that must be provided by organizations that are tax-exempt, but NOT a public charity, in connection with solicitations.

What are other ethical fundraising practices, and what practices are NOT ethical? The Association of Fundraising Professionals "AFP" and the National Council of Nonprofits agree: compensating fundraisers with a commission on contributions is not ethical. (See below) For similar reasons, placing undue pressure on potential donors to donate does the entire charitable nonprofit community a disservice. Some reports (such as this one) express concern that high-pressure tactics employed by some out-sourced fundraising services are creating a back-lash against charitable giving.

Accountability to donors

Practices that demonstrate accountability and respect for donors include:

Listing donors on a nonprofits’ website in the manner in which the donor would like to be acknowledged

Anonymous donors

Some donors ask that their gift remain anonymous, and are concerned that the nonprofit will sell their contact information to other nonprofits (which will increase the chance that they will be solicited by other nonprofits).

To address these concerns, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has developed a Donors’ Bill of Rights that nonprofits are encouraged to adopt.

Acknowledging donations

Donors expect a ‘thank you’ note to acknowledge their charitable gifts. It is not only ethical to be transparent with donors about the receipt of their gifts, but it is also a legal requirement for certain gifts.

Read about the IRS requirements for acknowledging “quid pro quo contributions” (gifts of $75 or more when the donor receives something of value in return.)

Respecting donor intent

Respecting a donor’s intent is an ethical issue and also a legal matter that starts with educating staff and board members about the importance of maintaining donor trust, and the legal/fiduciary obligation to honor donors’ requests.

But also make sure all staff and board members understand the significance of “restricted” gifts and that saying “no” to restrictions (tactfully) is sometimes the wiser response: Nonprofit gifts: When strings are attached (Nolo)

Manage donors’ expectations about what the nonprofit will or will not accept. Example: "We are grateful for in-kind contributions that will help us deliver services to seniors, however, we do not accept contributions of used computers."

A verbal agreement between a donor and a charity to use the gift in a certain way can be enforceable. When donors provide a contribution for a specific purpose this is referred to as a “restricted gift."

Clarifying how a contribution will or will not be used and respecting a donor’s intention about the use of a gift, or how the donor will be recognized (such as a request to remain anonymous), is a basic tenet of ethical fundraising and accountability.

Using a written agreement can help define how a gift will be used, and manage potential donors' expectations about what gifts a charitable nonprofit will - and will not accept.

Example: Code of Ethics/Fundraising. See Section VII of the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations' (PANO) Code of Ethics which is one standard contained in the Standards for Excellence for Pennsylvania nonprofits.

Transparency about Fundraising Costs

As a matter of being a sustainable organization, nonprofits should know what it costs to operate their programs and activities. Fundraising is an activity that has a cost, too. In fact, the annual return (IRS Form 990) asks tax-exempt organizations to put a dollar figure on the annual cost of fundraising activities. The IRS defines fundraising expenses as: “..the expenses incurred in soliciting contributions, gifts, and grants.”

Nonprofits should not be uncomfortable reporting these costs - Instead we should own our own costs, and help those that support our mission understand what it costs to deliver that mission!

Examples of fundraising expenses include: postage and printing, telephone and internet charges, relating to sending letters/emails to ask for contributions; staff time spent writing grant proposals and other costs relating to applying for or renewing grants, and reporting on grants received; maintaining relationships with funding sources; costs of special events that result in contributions; the development of fundraising materials and their distribution, such as annual reports; as well as costs incurred in collecting contributions; and all indirect costs of the above (especially salaries and benefits of related personnel).